The answer to your question depends on what part of the sewage system your
talking about.

The house sewer caries the waste water from the various fixtures in the
house, the toilet, lavatory, sinks, showers and laundry. Depending on the
size and condition of the interior of the sewer toilet paper can be a
source of clogging and backups.

The Street Sewer or Public Sewer carries the wastewater to the treatment
plant. These pipes are usually large, minimum size 8” in Diam. Toilet
paper normally is not a problem there.

At the treatment plant the heavy solids are settled out and removed from
the water for either incineration or land burial.

Toilet paper can be a problem for people who are on On-Lot Disposal
Systems – Septic Systems.

Septic systems have two components--a 1,000 to 1,200 gallon tank, which
can be constructed from metal, fiberglass, or concrete, and a leachfield
with several leach lines surrounded by crushed stone, which disperses
material through a large area of soil. Both the tank and leach pipes are
installed underground.

The tank has three separate layers of wastewater. At the bottom is a
sludge layer, composed of the heaviest sewage components. In the middle is
a clear layer of wastewater, which flows outward into the leach lines to
be broken down by biological processes. The top layer is composed of scum,
grease, and other floating substances.

Part of septic system maintenance involves alternate disposal of items
which will settle as sludge or scum in the tank.

The above items should not be flushed down the toilet when your on a
public sewer either. That’s not the proper method of disposal for these
items.

I think the problem is not the type of toilet paper but the amount used.
This combined with the lower volumes of water used in the newer water
saving toilets dose not provide sufficient flow to move the toilet paper
out of the system into the public sewer resulting in backups.